Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, February 25 Update:
AIC Lenny Rudow says he finally made it out for some perch mid-week this week, but the bite was thin at the traditional Eastern Shore spots (Greensboro, Hillsboro, etc) and their catch consisted of a handful of fall fish and pickerel. Anglers on the scene reported there had been a decent yellow perch bite on Monday, but Wednesday appeared to be an off-day despite the awesome weather. Alltackle and Angler’s both reported that they’ve been hearing of a fluctuating perch bite as well. AllTackle mentioned that the fish have been really on and off, with a finicky bite even in their favorite haunts throughout the Tuckahoe and locations that are generally lit up as we approach the spawn. Still, when the fish have been biting, the bite is good. A smattering of bass, pickerel, and sometimes crappie can be found willing to bite up the creeks where anglers are fishing for yellows, too. A bottom rig with a minnow has been the most common bait.
We heard reports from a few anglers who decide to poke around the Bridge for catch and release stripers. From what we’ve heard, they found a few in 40 to 50 feet of water but overall the area was pretty quiet this week.
On the Eastern Shore, both readers and Angler’s reported that a mixed pickerel and bass bite was solid this week in the millponds for anglers fishing minnows or spinners in shallow water. Jerkbaits also came up as effective in the conversations.
As we gear up for fall striper season, it’s also worth nothing that Anglers Sport Center’s Spring Kickoff Sale this weekend will have some good money-saving deals that’ll help get your tackleboxes replenished without breaking the bank. We also have the Annapolis Angler’s Club winter Saltwater Fishing Expo taking place tomorrow, the 26th, at the Annapolis Elks Lodge #622. AIC Lenny Rudow will be among the speakers there, on the light tackle fishing panel discussion at 1:00.
And in other news, let's call out Tri-State Marine, now a sponsor of these fishing reports. If you need a new Grady-White, Parker, or Sea Pro, these are the folks to talk with. Thanks for helping us keep up the fishing reports, Tri-State!
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, February 18 Update:
We had one reader check in with us who fished the Bay Bridge rock piles this past Saturday when the weather was warm. They managed to locate some nice resident 22- to 24-inch stripers in 30 to 40 feet of water that were happy to snap up some jigs on bottom. They also searched for white perch around the pilings, but couldn’t find any to put in the cooler. In general, the fishing has been a bit finicky. Western shore anglers haven’t been finding much close to home, with the tributary bites thin. Typically, the best luck is found heading to the Eastern Shore and fishing the Tuckahoe, mill ponds, or areas like Wye Mills that are providing a much healthier, steadier panfish and catfish bite. Yellow perch in these areas have been apt to taking bare minnows, or shad darts and other small jigs tipped with them. Catfish are taking chunks of cut bait on bottom, as usual. We also had our first report in months of a snakehead from the Eastern Shore - pretty dang cool what can happen on a 60-degree winter day!
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, February 11 Update:
Yellow perch are here and biting, with a couple of readers checking in after having success landing yellows and a few whites on the Eastern Shore. Both minnow and grass shrimp are working, fished on darts. While none of the folks who checked in with us dropped location names or hotspots, one did mention that the fish were already surprisingly far upriver approaching the spawning zones. Anglers is also reporting perch action from the east side and fishing should be good in the Choptank and Tuckahoe. The upper Wye also reportedly has a good bite, with minnows and shad darts working in all areas. Anglers on the western shore are poking around the Magothy and Severn for pickerel and perch, but bites are often limited right now. The millponds are another option and are now ice-free, though mid-week Contributor Eric Packard reported that the bite had shut down, something we’d expect to have changed by now with the warm days we’ve just had.
Trout were recently planted in a number of waterways in the area and currently provide a close to sure-fire way to catch some fish for those who are so inclined; Contributor Eric Packard reported that hitting a Calvert County pond this week was like "fishing in a barrel." If anyone’s interested in catching and releasing rockfish, Anglers is also reporting that the fish are holding deep in 50-plus feet but are willing to strike jigging spoons worked slowly near bottom.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, February 4 Update:
Reader reports of yellow perch have come in from the Eastern Shore rivers including the Choptank and Tuckahoe, which remained accessible in some areas with moving water (as other nearby waterways with low flow were skimmed over during the past week - the recent rain should have taken care of that). The fish are hitting minnow on darts and bottom rigs in the channels downstream of the spawning grounds, with low or outgoing tides providing the best action.
We didn’t have any reader reports (or reports otherwise) of yellow perch on the western shore that even close to rivaled the eastern. However, there are some to be had up the Severn and Magothy. Reports of spotty, often slow bites from throughout the creeks came in this week. The same is the story with pickerel — they’re around western shore waters, but the best bite has been tough.
Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports finally getting back into the groover after a solid month stuck on land (ewwwww!) due to a shoulder injury, and says that fortunately running over to the Eastern Shore and fishing the Pocomoke near Snow Hill proved to be a worthy way to break the fishless stretch. Minnows on darts fished right on bottom in the channel had yellow perch snapping to the tune of a limit catch, he lost count of pickerel at 10, and his friend Vadim enjoyed hooking into a beast of a gar on a six-pound test rig intended for perch. There was also one bass in the mix. The fish moved around as the tide changed (deep in the channels on low tide and up over five-foot flats with weedbeds on high water) but continued to bite through the end of the outgoing and well into the incoming.